When people are built of 100% awesome

Still thinking of Christchurch so much. So many people have lost loved ones and so many things we take for granted, so many of the basic elements of our daily lives like electricity and running water and flushing toilets and phones have been taken away. It is a struggle and I watch in awe at the people who have stepped up and done whatever needs to be done: who have reached in and rescued people, who have shared what they have with people in need, who have offered comfort and the best of humanity to help their fellow man. I am proud to be a kiwi.

I am also proud to be my parents' daughter. I am writing a novel based on my father's experiences as a young teen in the Second World War. When Germany invaded Poland, they divided up the country with the Soviet Union. Many Polish families became prisoners of war in Russian labour camps including my father's and my mother's families. My maternal grandfather died in the fighting in Ancona. My paternal grandmother died of a treatable illness. Some of my parent's siblings died as a result of the war. After the hardships they endured my parents met and married in England and came out to New Zealand in the 1950's. It must have seemed like paradise, filled with peace, progress and prosperity, after the horrors of Europe in WW2. Knowing their story makes me realise how resilient and remarkable people are.

There have been times when I have despaired for the human race when they have seemed intent on a path of self destruction or when the petty cruel behaviour of some individuals beggars belief, but then there are times like these when people are built of 100% awesome. Thank you to all those people from round the world who have sent their love, who have donated money or who have come to New Zealand to help rescue Christchurch, to help strangers because thats what good people do.